"Dataclysm : Who We Are" by Christian Rudder : An Updated Approach to Reaffirm that Love is Not That Hard to Find

Since the time of Adam and Eve, the desire for love has not changed all that much. What has changed are the different options we have to seek for love. Nowadays in the deep sea of the internet are several dating websites that offer the possibility to find your soul mate. We can say that the internet is our divine Paradise given that it is highly probable that there we can find our Adam or Eve. Bearing this in mind, Christian Rudder´s published book “Dataclysm” gives us reasons to believe that it is possible to find love. “Dataclysm” is a compilation of numbers and figures that author Christian Rudder collected through interesting research within several websites and social media such as google.com, Twitter, Facebook, and his online dating site OkCupid. The research developed by Christian Rudder is focused on how men and women interact online when seeking a steady relationship. Rudder examines several factors such as geography, sexual orientation, race, vocabulary, and beauty among others in order to understand human behavior. In “Dataclysm” Rudder investigates not only the personal history of the people but also by using big data is able to identify what people say they wish for and compare it to what they really want.

The most interesting part for me was the dating data. While reading “Dataclysm” my curiosity was peaked and I decided to sign up to the OkCupid web page in order to confirm the facts that Christian Rudder stated in his book. It was kind of weird but at the same time, I felt that it is a really personal decision when someone decides to pour their insides into a huge deep-sea as is the internet. And it is not that different when one chooses to go to a bar or to a party to meet people in order to find a potential suitor. Anyways, I can say that my experience on OkCupid to date is normal and follows the patterns more or less described in the book but I think I will stay there for a while to see what happens. Like I said previously – I am curious.

“Dataclysm” is an interesting book and if somebody asks me if I recommend it, surely I can say that “Dataclysm” is for people who are interested in researching rational facts in order to find their soul mate online. Speaking personally I believe in the biblical quote: “He who seeks finds”, therefore; let us not stay with the typical Disney phrase “Once upon a time” and follow our “Happily ever after".